The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-10-03
AN HISTORIC BIBLE.
The Strange Adventures and Final
Return of Lee Family Record.


Return of a Lee Family Record.
From the Phiiadelphia Press.
War destroys many things beside human
lives. War makes history, but among the
things it destroys are materials for the
historian
A Northern gentleman was recently visit
ing an estimabe lady in Virginia, the VIE
of distinguished Southern general, VINO Is
still living. The visitor asked her little son,
How old are you, my lad" Inc BOY
looked brightly up at the questloner ana re-
piled: What's the use of you Northerners
asking anybody down here how old he IS
when the Northern soldiers burned up all
our family BiblesH'
Such is the little anecdote written by the
Virginia lady in recent letter TO FRANK
Willing Leach. Mr.. Leach IS writing
book of great historical value and interest,
The Sfgners of the Declaration Of indie
pendence and Their Descendants. The
work requires an enormous correspondence,
and it was in answer to a letter of inquiry
that the above anecdote was incidentally
told. The lady is a descendant of John
Penn, signer from North Carolina, and
curiously enough her husband Is descend
ant of Gov. Thomas Nelson, signer from
Virginia.
During the civil war thousands of South
ern family Bibles were destroyed, especially
during Sherman's march to the sea and
Sheridan's raid down the Shenandoah. The
history of one of these Bibles is especially
interesting. Some account of it was re-
Gently published in the Boston GtObe, and
has been extensively copied by other papers
throughout the country. Unfortunately
this account is full of erroneous statements
Mr. Leach yesterday recounted the true
story. as follows;
Last spring | wrote to Mrs. Mary L.
Castleman, of Herndon, Fairfax county,
Va, for data for my book. She is de
scendant of Richard Henry Lee, one of the
signers from Virginia. In her reply she
stated that in 1876 Mr. L. X. Dorrance, of
Boston, had written a letter to General,
now Governor, Fitzhugh Lee, relating that
he had recently seen Bible In a mans pos
session which contained family record of a
William Fitzhugh Lee and which had been
taken from Virginia during the civil war
Mr. Dorrance thought that the Bible be-
longed to Gen Fitzhugh Lee or his father.
As matter of TACT it belonged to Rev.
William F'itzhugl Lee who was first
cousin to Gen Fitzhugh Lees father.
Gen. Fitzhugh Lee knew at once from
Mr. Dorrances description that the Bible
belonged tosthe family of his fathers cousin,
and he therefore wrote TO the widow of Rev.
William Fitzhugh Lee, inclosing Mr.. Dor
q,
and, having forgotten Mr.. Dorrance's adj
dress, could not write to him. She recently
died, and Mrs CastIeman, her daughter,
found Mr.. DOrrances letter among her
papers.
MRS. Castleman, in her letter of reply to
me last Spring, stated these facts: i found
Mr.. Dorrances address in a Boston directO-
ry and wrote to him He replied that he
had seen the missing Bible at Kennebunk-
port, Me. but could not recall iii whose pos
session it was However, he caused an article
setting forth the facts of the case, to be in
serted in a local paper at Kennebunkport.
Immediately one Jeremiah Kelly appeared,
who stated he still had the Bible in question.
He stated that on the evening that Els
worth was shot he was in Alexandria as a
United States volunteer soldier. The Union
troops were SO exasperated by the Staying of
Ellsworth on that night the city of Alexan-
dria was almost completely looted. Kelly
entered certain house from which every
thing had been taken except the Bible,
which he saw on mantel-piece. Wishing
it for a relic he asked some slaves, who were
the only persons in the house, whether he
could haveit, and they gave it to him. He
sent it home to his family.
kelly gave the Bible to Mr.. Dorrance,
who sent it to me / shall forward it in a
few days to Mrs. Castleman, who will
doubtless be glad to recover the family
record after an absence of over twenty five
years. have presented a new family Bible
to Mr.. Kelly in lieu of the old one, which he
has kindly relnquished.
'''There is curious incident in connection
with Mr. Kelly's possession of the Bible.
He was born and brought up a Roman
Catholic, but since this historic Bible has
been in his keeping he has become strict
and vigorous Protestant. "